United Makeup Artists Expo

April 7, 2014

2 minute read

UMAE1

It was a very last minute decision to head to the United Makeup Artist Expo in Islington on Saturday. I went with my friend, makeup artist, Kenneth Soh as his guest, as I’m (clearly) not a make-up artist! I think I had rather expected something similar to IMATS but thankfully, no! UMAE is a much calmer event, with plenty of space and time to talk to brands and suppliers. Excitingly, David Horne was there with copies of his book The Art of Male Makeup (blogged HERE but now sold out; there is another print run on the way) and the handsome fellow above is the front cover! It was an absolute pleasure to watch him being made-over to look as he does on the cover below.

David Horne Book

The United Makeup Artists Expo is for professional make-up artists to stock up their kit, hear lectures, see demonstrations and generally socialise – it’s the UK’s only MUA show.

UMAE

Obviously, make up artistry isn’t limited to glossy covers; there is all the film work, prosthetics and body painting to take into account as well – I LOVE that you can buy different thicknesses of blood – who knew?! And a nice perky bottom is enough to cheer up anyone’s day ;-).

UMAE

I spent a lot of time at the MAC Pro stand, and drooling over Louise Young Brushes (and her cute little powder puffs that attach to a finger so make-up artists don’t disturb the work they’ve just done). The Louise Young site is HERE.

Lime Crime

I spotted the new Lime Crime Clueless Witch Collection Velvetines – they’re super powered! I’ve swatched on my arm and borrowed Joyce’s arm from Brides & Beauty (HERE) as she has a different skin tone to me. The Lime Crime Clueless collection is available HERE for £13.50 each.

UMAE

As you might imagine, there was make up everywhere! However, I also spotted new solid brush cleaners – I’ll be doing a separate post about those tomorrow. If you didn’t manage to pick up the Japonesque Goat Milk brush shampoo, then this brand, Clean, also does one (interestingly, Clean’s came first) as well as lavender, grapefruit and lemon variants which are beautifully fresh. Look out for this tomorrow.

Julia Townend

I can’t not mention the amazing body art created by students of Julia Townend – you will have seen Julia’s work everywhere and she’s opening a make-up studio to offer courses soon – I can’t say I’m not tempted. Imagine being able to create something like this from make-up. Julia’s site is HERE but not quite fully ready.

One of the final stands I visited was hosted by The Artistry Network – if you’re a new make-up artist (or even not so new), it’s a community based site that shares MUA relevant information such as jobs and industry guides and allows you to talk to other make-up artists. You can find it HERE.

*all products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.

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4 comments

Fantastic that you came to UMAE, glad you liked. Hope you had the chance to meet Robin Mathews, the current OSCAR winner, Greg, Kenny or Neil to discuss their latest Hollywood projects. Did you meet he NASMAH ladies who’d worked with Monroe, Brando, Burton, Taylor, Kidman et al. The smallest stand but the most important in terms of British Hair & Makeup as their members work on all the biggest budget movies and are people like Lois Burwell, the British Oscar winner.

It would have been great to see you on the ARTDECO stand, we could have told you that 7 BAFTA TV 2014 nominations have ARTDECO makeup involved. Or which BAFTA and Academy Award nominated productions use a little bit of ARTDECO. You would have loved the Asian Bridal demonstrations we were running showing the versatility of the brand. Sad that we missed you, we had the new HD Foundation formulations and concealers which are actually used on films/TV. It would be fabulous to see you at BeautyUK?

I did spot you come to the Love Makeup stand but, alas I was too busy serving customers to say hello 🙁 if you do come to IMATS come and grab me I will be working the Love Makeup Stand with the bright red hair. It would be lovely to meet my blogging inspiration 🙂 xo